Tyson Fury Claims Anthony Joshua Fight Is Off and Calls Out Oleksandr Usyk

Tyson Fury has taken to social media claiming his long-anticipated heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua is off, issuing a callout to his former opponent Oleksandr Usyk for a trilogy bout this November. However, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has firmly denied the claim, maintaining that a legally binding agreement remains in force.

The two British heavyweights signed individual contracts for a bout targeted for November 2026. However, progress has stalled due to disagreements regarding the location of the event.

Posting on Instagram, Fury expressed frustration over the contract discussions, accusing Joshua of backing away from the matchup:

"AJ has s**t his pants again, yet again. After 11 years he has finally s**t his pants yet again. This will only lead me to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk."

"Oleksandr you’re his trainer and his sensei and you know he is a weak minded piece of s**t and that he would never fight the Gypsy King, which you have had the guts to do twice."

"You got the decisions last time, fair play to you. Good luck to you, let’s do it again. Let’s run it back in November."

"The ball is now in your court… do you want to fight me this year, 2026, or are you calling quits?"

"Let me know because I am now looking for a new opponent."

Fury's brother, Shane Fury, previously noted that Tyson intends to fight on November 20th regardless of the opponent, with backup targets including Agit Kabayel, Filip Hrgovic, and Daniel Dubois. Both fighters recently completed tune-up bouts in July, with Fury stopping Mariusz Wach in Thailand and Joshua stopping Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia.

The primary obstacle holding up the official fight announcement involves location rights. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn noted that Joshua's contract specifies that the event must take place in the UK. On the other hand, Saudi state-backed event investor Sela and broadcast partner Netflix favor hosting the bout at Madison Square Garden in New York to maximize American primetime viewership.

Hearn rejected Fury's claim that the fight had collapsed:

"We have a signed legally binding contract to fight Tyson Fury and that’s exactly what we will be doing."

Hearn added that discussions have re-opened regarding holding the contest at London's Wembley Stadium, even if it requires a 2 a.m. local ring walk to accommodate U.S. broadcast schedules, in a proposal that has been supported by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan:

"A message to the promoters - we want to host it in London. Talk to us, we're really keen to have it."

"I'm hoping the promoters understand that not only will you get 100,000 people watching this bout live, you'll get millions watching it across the globe, where both boxers are cheered on by their loyal fans."

Addressing the ongoing negotiations, Hearn said:

"Thank you to all the people that have supported it because you’ve got the attention of (promoters) Sela. And those talks now are really heating up and moving quickly about a possible Wembley fight."

"It’s Anthony’s insistence that the fight takes place in Britain – otherwise everyone would have just given up. And I think what AJ’s done is he’s seen the support that he’s been getting and how important it is to people, and it’s making him feel good."

"It’s making him feel like, ‘Yeah, let’s bring it home.’ Now they just want to explore now the possibility of a slightly later time."

"We’re going to catch up with Sadiq Khan earlier in the week and try and push it forward. We’re going to have to drive it, right?"

"Because they’re not, you know, they still want the fight in America. But if we can make it happen, if we can show them what’s possible, then we’ve got a great chance."